Large, Undeveloped Bolivian Lithium Reservoirs May Recharge the World

Summary: The largest, least developed lithium resources may recharge the world if Bolivian lithium reservoirs become the most economically productive reserves.

TanDEM-X (TerraSar-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement) satellite radar image of Salar de Uyuni, located next to Atacama Desert’s volcanic region; blue to dark blue areas represent Uyuni’s lowest lying regions: DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- under Raumfahrt e.V. German Aerospace Center), CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Bolivian lithium reservoirs and non-metallic mineral deposits are vast, at 9 million tons, according to the world-relevant report Mineral Commodity Summaries 2016 released Jan. 28, 2016, by the United States Geological Survey.

The summaries bolster Bolivia’s position as majority holder of world lithium reserves, in sync with Corporación Minera de Bolivia’s (Bolivia Mining Corporation, COMIBOL) evaporitic resources surveys. Engineers consider as evaporitic resources water-soluble deposits of sedimentary minerals whose concentration and crystallization come about through the evaporation of saline water in lakes and oceans. Sodium carbonate and sodium sulfate, materials used in the manufacture of glass, dominate in the crystallized salts that accumulate in the evaporitic basins of southwestern Bolivia.

Geologists extend application of the synonymous terms salt bed and salt pan to a total of nine salt flats, with three deemed major and six minor.

Lithium carbonate functions as the main component in the lithium ion rechargeable batteries for cell phones, digital cameras, electric cars, iPods, laptop computers and plug-in hybrids.

Reports and surveys give prime importance to Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni Salt Flat), largest salt flat in the world at 10,000 square kilometers (3,860 square miles). The Uyuni Salt Flat, at an altitude of 12,000 feet (3,657.6 meters) above sea level in southwestern Bolivia, has a plant for production of lithium carbonate. COMIBOL includes among projects proposed for Uyuni exploitation of Bolivian lithium reservoirs the simultaneous production of potassium chloride and of such minerals as boron and magnesium.

The United States Geological Survey judges Uyuni’s “complex chemistry … as well as possibly higher rainfall and lower rates of evaporation than in other salars” problematic.

Engineers with the United States Geological Survey know of 40.7 million total tons of world lithium resources, with 14 million tons exploitable as economically productive reserves. They list as countries whose resources convert to economically productive reserves Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Congo-Kinshasa, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, the United States and Zimbabwe. The Bolivian lithium reservoirs make up the greatest percentage since resources include the Coipasa Salt Bed, the Pastos Grandes Salt Flat and the Uyuni Salt Pan.

Engineers with COMIBOL note exploitable, extensive deposits of boron, lithium, magnesium, potassium and ulexite in the 3,300-square-kilometer (1,274-square-mile) Coipasa Salt Flat of southwestern Bolivia’s Oruro Department. The 118-square-kilometer (45-square-mile) Pastos Grandes Salt Flat in Potosí Department offers deposits of lithium and of ulexite, material used in ceramics, fertilizer, fiber optics and glass.

Laguna Cañapa, Laguna Colorada, Laguna Collpa and Laguna Kachi of Potosí Department prove to be sources of such non-metallic minerals as boron, magnesium, potassium and ulexite. Potosí’s boron, sodium sulfate and ulexite-rich Callviri, Capina, Chiguana, Laguani and Laguna Salt Flats qualify as minor beds within Bolivia’s total 16,000-square-kilometer (6,178-square-mile) salt pan area.

All four lagoons and six salt flats that make up the 10 Bolivian lithium reservoirs retain the interest of developers in the Americas, Asia and Europe. They serve as strong candidates for improving living conditions and raising living standards through one of two historic ways in Bolivia: mineral resource extraction and tourism.

It turns out that Bolivia’s flats and lagoons already are world-famous for their uniquely beautiful reflection of high-altitude skies in high-altitude dried and rain-fed salt beds.

The world's largest salt flat, southeastern Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni Salt Flat), has a lithium carbonate production plant: Huffington Post @Huffington Post, via Twitter April 30, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

TanDEM-X image of Salar de Uyuni: DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- under Raumfahrt e.V. German Aerospace Center), CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TanDEM-X_image_of_Salar_de_Uyuni.jpg

The world's largest salt flat, southeastern Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni Salt Flat), has a lithium carbonate production plant: Huffington Post @HuffingtonPost, via Twitter April 30, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/HuffingtonPost/status/593724002994126850

For further information:

“Bolivia Home to 2 Other Lithium Deposits Besides Uyuni.” Latin American Herald Tribune > Bolivia. Jan. 16, 2010.
Available @ http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=350488&CategoryId=14919

Huffington Post @HuffingtonPost. "Stunning new time-lapse video reveals the trippy landscape of Bolivia's Uyuni salt flat." Twitter. April 30, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/HuffingtonPost/status/593724002994126850

U.S. Geological Survey. January 2016. “Lithium.” Mineral Commodity Summaries.
Available @ http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/2016/mcs2016.pdf